By Happy Oasis
"Freedom is our greatest joy", declared an oriental sage of antiquity. This perennial, yet debatable adage, persists today perhaps partly because freedom and joy are, by definition, inextricably woven, possibly more so than you may imagine.
The first several definitions of freedom start with the idea of enjoying as in "enjoying personal rights", "enjoying absence of confinement" and "enjoying political liberty". Therefore, having rights and liberties does not constitute freedom. Enjoying them does.
According to definitions, the full experience of freedom requires a very personal choice to enjoy, to live with a quality of awareness that may also evoke responses from outrage to action, from sorrow to singing, from silent contemplation to celebration.
A well-known liberty granted to Americans was the “pursuit of happiness”. Contrary to popular assumptions, pursue did not imply “to hunt or to chase down”. Pursue meant "to follow and to practice" as in to follow the ways of happiness so as to practice happiness. The pursuit or practice of happiness and the practice of freedom are inextricably fused.
How can we each uniquely embrace the multi-faceted practices of freedom and happiness in the eclectic array of our lives?
Answering these stirring questions may offer added insight.
In this moment, will I be a victim of circumstance or a master?
Do I (really) have to do anything or do I consciously choose to do whatever I do? Do I elect to be more often an excuse for defeat or an exemplary of inspiration? Do I define life as a medley of endless obstacles or as a parade of ceaseless opportunities?
"Either everything is a miracle or nothing is a miracle," Albert Einstein concurred.
How do you define freedom, and what are your most succulent strategies to “Living Free in an Unfree World”? When identifying the facets of freedom, many of us start with thoughts of free time, creative freedom and financial freedom followed by political freedom.
That's a fine start. However, what about freedom to choose our community, including the virtues and values of our community; freedom to express love, fun, joy and kindness; intercultural, artistic, entrepreneurial and multi-linguistic freedoms; freedom to choose our j.o.b. (joy of being), home, health and habits; freedom to choose our most cherished geography; the choice to choose our country, including our preferred climates, seasons and ecosystems, and most of all, perceptions.
About Happy Oasis
As an Adventure Anthropologist, Environmentalist and Blissologist, for me, the ongoing study of the freedom and joy together as a whole is essential.
Political freedom is something many Americans have assumed as an inalienable right. While living abroad for more than a decade in an eclectic array of locations, it soon became evident that the majority of people on the planet are restricted in their fullest expressions of freedom—of creativity and lifestyle—id est, the pursuit (= practice) of happiness due to some form of governing interference from the top down and simultaneously from the mores of the masses, yet ultimately due to individual choices.
About Johnny Liberty
In 1992, one of the pioneers of the Sovereignty movement, Johnny Liberty starting teaching to what would be tens of thousands of American professionals on the subjects of constitutional law, the history of power structures, and how to reclaim one’s sovereignty. Johnny Liberty is the author of the renowned classic "Global Sovereign's Handbook", and is currently updating his 25th anniversary edition of this monumental 800-page tome.
THRIVE filmmaker Foster Gamble wrote, "Johnny Liberty is one of my heroes—a true modern day pioneer for freedom and justice for all. His courage inspires me and his research informs me ongoingly in my quest toward a free and thriving world."
Living an exquisitely free lifestyle in their eco-creational vehicle, Johnny Liberty and Happy Oasis are dynamic orators, visionaries, comprehensivists, poets, songwriters and researchers. Authors Happy Oasis and Johnny Liberty will offer a powerful presentation to enhance personal freedom and inspire individual sovereignty in these intriguing times.
Participants will discover succulent strategies to claiming your sovereignty, as well as:
- Fascinating facets of freedom
- The ecstasy of ethics
- A vision for a New America
Comments